The present invention relates to an electric light, switching arrangement especially for illuminating the interior of a motor vehicle.
Lights for illuminating the interior of a motor vehicle are usually activated by so-called door contact switches, and in particular generally when the vehicle door is opened. The activation of the light via the illumination of the interior is terminated when the door is again closed, for example after a person leaves the interior of the vehicle or after the person has entered the interior of the vehicle. The heretofore known manner of activating the interior light, as well as the door contact switch normally used for this purpose, have several drawbacks. On the one hand, for example when a person has taken his seat within the interior of the vehicle, the light is switched off after the door has been closed because normally the door switch is again shut off. On the other hand, to this day, door contact switches represent a mechanically and functionally problematic component for use in motor vehicles. One reason for this is that the door contact switch must be installed in a region of the door opening of a motor vehicle that requires great tolerance precision during manufacture, so that during installation the door contact switch must either be precisely adjusted, or door contact switches must be provided that have an extremely long stroke in order to surmount the large variations in dimension. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,871, Fuchshuber.
As previously mentioned, most electric lights of this type have the drawback that just when a person has opened the door in darkness, taken his seat within the vehicle, and has closed the door, the light is again automatically switched off by the door switch and no light is available, for example, for insertion of the ignition key into the ignition. For this purpose, up to now it has then been necessary to illuminate the interior of the vehicle with the electric light via a second switch that is separate from the door contact switch; subsequently, in order to again turn off the light, this parallel switch must be switched off.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electric light that requires no separate door contact switch for turning the light on, that can be installed with simple means and can be manufactured in an economical manner, and that makes it possible for light to be available to a person that has entered the vehicle, at least long enough to undertake the necessary steps for starting the vehicle.